Monday, September 28, 2015

Robert Bristol, an Adelphi student pursing his
master’s degree in emergency management, has been chosen for the John D.
Solomon Fellowship for Public Service. Every year, the program chooses only 10
graduate students to participate in a nine month paid fellowship with either a
nonprofit or a New York City government agency in the area of emergency
management. Bristol will be working with the NYC Department of Education (DOE) where
he will be helping to build the agency’s Crisis Management Tools well as
implementing the Continuity of Operations Plan.

Bristol will begin his second
year as a graduate student in the fall 2015 semester. Previously working as an
athletic trainer after graduating from Sacred Heart University, Bristol decided
to go into emergency management following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. After his hometown
of East Rockaway, NY was hit hard by the storm, Bristol, then the Captain of
the East Rockaway Fire Department Rescue Squad, was responsible for aiding in
both the pre-storm evacuation as well as the rebuilding of the town after the
storm. This experience gave him an interest in emergency management, and after
a brief time as a 911 Telecommunicator in North Carolina, he returned to New
York where he was accepted to Adelphi’s Emergency Management Program.

The John D. Solomon
Fellowship for Public Service is the first student fellowship program devoted entirely
to emergency management. It was created by the family and friends of journalist
and public servant John D. Solomon, and partners with numerous organizations including
the New York Fire Department, the New York Police Department, and the DOE.Bristol will work with the DOE emergency
management office as they prepare for, and respond to, any emergency that may
arise.

When asked about what he was
expecting to get from the program, Bristol explained how he saw this as a great
learning experience. “I really expect to see what a true emergency manager does
on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “The DOE is a new setting for me, so I will be
seeing how the emergency management setting is not just first response (fire,
EMS, Military, etc.) as well as learning the nuts and bolts of what it means to
be an emergency manager and how it relates to such a large school system.” Bristol
also expressed a great deal of gratitude to Adelphi for helping him achieve his
goals; citing an enjoyable program with supportive directors and professors. Altogether,
he is very happy with the direction his life has taken. “Right now I’m where I
want to be, and I know where I want to go in my career,” he says. “I know
emergency management is what I want to do and it is what I have a deep passion
for.”

Monday, September 21, 2015

Later this year, Oscar nominated actor Will Smith will be
starring in Concussion, a sports
drama film based on true events in which Smith plays a forensic pathologist who
works with NFL players suffering from sports related concussions. As part of
the national discussion regarding athletes and the danger of head injuries, the
Center for Health Innovations co-hosted a symposium in April 2015 with Winthrop
University Hospital’s Sports Medicine program. Below is an article written by
Adelphi graduate student and sports information graduate assistant in the Adelphi
Athletics department, Victoria Chiesa ’15, originally published in Anton
Newspapers on April 17, 2015.

Center
for Health Innovation Addresses Concussions

by Victoria Chiesa

​With head injuries and their devastating effects on athletes of all ages
thrust into both the national and local spotlight in recent months, the Center
for Health Innovation at Adelphi University in Garden City did its part to
raise awareness and educate the public at a free lecture and panel discussion
on March 30. Co-hosted by Winthrop University Hospital's Sports Medicine
Program and held in front of a capacity crowd at the University's Angello
Alumni House, the event brought together several local sports medicine
professionals and physicians and panelists, led by NHL hall-of-famer Pat
LaFontaine, to answer one important question: How do we protect our children?

The event was the second rapid response symposium put on by the Center for
Health Innovation this academic year in reaction to "urgent and emergent
health issues" that are affecting or could potentially affect communities
across Long Island, according to director Elizabeth Gross Cohn, Ph.D., RN.
Gross Cohn set the tone for the evening by stressing the importance of a
collaborative effort between all of the people tasked with handling and
protecting ahtletes, a point that was stressed by all of the speakers.

"This is really going to take a community approach to solve this,"
Gross Cohn said. "We need parents, coaches, doctors, scientists...we need
everyone to think about the way that we can start to prevent concussions so
that people can safely play sports."

To begin the symposium, Adelphi graduate Dr. Michael Kennedy, a board certified
sports and emergency medicine physician, took the podium to provide an overview
of concussions and the importance of a conservative rehabilitation process.
Kennedy broke down the three grades of concussions, which are categorized by
the length of post-traumatic amnesia and loss of consciousness. After an
athlete suffers a concussion, Kennedy said, athletes need to be symptom-free
during both exertion and rest. This "stepwise progression program,"
which is different for every athlete, is also sport-specific.

"We all care about our kids," Kennedy said. "If we keep people
involved...you're going to see more and more athletes come forward, talk about
their injuries, talk about how they're feeling. They're going to get actively
involved in their passion, which is playing sports in a safe way, and all of
that is going to lead to good things."

Expanding upon Kennedy's points, Dr. Kevin Curley, attending physician at
Winthrop who also serves as the primary care sports physician for the
university, delivered the keynote speech. Curley raised the importance of the
physical, cognitive and emotional effects of concussions, while familiarizing
the audience with the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool that was put into
practice following the fourth International Conference on Concussion in Sport
in Zurich, Switzerland in 2012. Following the keynote address, a panel
discussion was moderated by Dr. Mark Grossman, an orthopedic surgeon
specializing in sports medicine who is currently the team physician for
Adelphi's NCAA athletes.

The panel consisted of LaFontaine, who played 15 years in the NHL for the New
York Rangers, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres; Don Gronachan, MA '93, the
vice president of physical medicine sales of Biodex Medical Systems; Ann
Cornell-Bell, Ph.D., vice president of administration of the Perseus Science
Group; Javan Esfandiari, chief scientist and technology officer of Chembio
Diagnostic Systems; and Rupi Johal, a primary care sports medicine physician in
Winthrop Orthopedic Associates.

While much of the night was centered around the medical significance of
concussions, LaFontaine emphasized his role as the "face" of
concussions, having suffered several in his playing career.

"What comes with sports, unfortunately, sometimes is collision and
impact," LaFontaine said. "When I went through it as an
athlete...nobody understood what was happening to me. I was lucky that the
doctors intervened at the right time. As athletes, we have a warrior
mentality...so parents, siblings, teachers and coaches need to be on high alert.
A lot of times, the last person you're going to hear it from is the
athlete."

Much like the medical professionals in the room, LaFontaine stressed the
importance of the athlete's support system when dealing with head injuries.
While awareness and collaboration in treating head injuries was the prevailing
theme from all present on the night, taking these steps is just the beginning
in the fight against concussions.

"We need to work together to make our play, our sports [and] our
recreation a safer venue, a safer experience for our children," said Dr.
Emilia Zarco, chairman of Adelphi's exercise science, health studies physical
education, and sports management department in the Ruth S. Ammon School of
Education. "The conversation, now that we know a lot, must now shift to
prevention."

Monday, September 14, 2015

As part of National Childhood Obesity Awareness month, we
spoke to children’s health expert Professor. Stephen Virgilio, Ph.D. Dr Virgilio has been a children's health expert for more than 30 years and has
served as a consultant to companies such as Fisher-Price, Sport-Fun, and Dannon
Yogurt as well as to school districts across the country. He has been
quoted in numerous publications, including the New York Times, LA Times,
SELF Magazine, Chicago Tribune, and USA Today, as well as Child and
Parenting magazines. He also has been a guest on several national broadcasts,
including the radio program Parent Talk and ABC's 20/20.

His previous book, Active Start for Healthy Kids:
Activities, Exercises, and Nutritional Tips, which focuses on children ages
2-6, provides a wealth of safe, inexpensive, and developmentally appropriate
activities that parents, teachers, and caregivers can implement. He says
it is important to reach children in their formative years and help them
develop positive behaviors that will last a lifetime.

In his latest
published book, Fitness Education for
Children: A Team Approach, 2nd. ed. (Human Kinetics 2012), Dr. Virgilio
emphasizes the importance of collaboration to combat obesity and promote active
lifestyles. He shows how you can combine the efforts of physical educators,
administrators, classroom teachers, school volunteers, parents, school lunch
personnel, health service professionals, and others in the community.

Below are his three key
suggestions to parents to prevent childhood obesity and create an active,
healthy lifestyle.

1.Be aRole Model

Parents should practice what they preach---children are more
apt to develop a parent's lifestyle behaviors by simply observing how the
family lives in the day to day routine.

2. Plan to be Healthy

It just doesn't
happen---plan activities to the park, beach or simple backyard games. Parents
should also sit down and create a healthy meal plan each week--children may
slip in an unplanned snack here and there but the significant portion of their
eating behaviors will be healthy.

3. Practice Positive
Parenting

Try to build a
child's self-esteem and body image with positive comments and actions. In
addition, try to educate children about their bodies and the importance of
health---saying "good job", or you" look great" will take
on greater meaning if they understand that you are there to support them--
because you love them so much.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Assistant Professor Meredith Whitley, Ph.D., from the Ruth S. Ammon
School of Education helped cofound the New York City Sport for
Development Collaborative to foster a welcoming, vibrant, innovative
platform for those actively engaged in the sport for development field
to explore relevant issues, improve practice and advance the field.

During three weeks in rural Uganda last July, she served as an
adviser to four female leaders who wanted to develop a women’s
empowerment program that included sports and physical activity. Dr.
Whitley collaborated on the project with Professor Alicia Johnson of the
University of Tennessee, who had done research in Uganda.

“Sport is a human right and I think that it has so much opportunity
to spread happiness and teach amazing life skills that can help people
outside of the sport arena,” Dr. Whitley said.

Dr. Whitley applies this work to high-need communities in New York as
well. Two students from her Sport-Based Youth Development class joined
her in working on a project with the Southern Queens Parks Association (SQPA)
last fall. In collaboration with SQPA leaders, they designed and
implemented a six-week program for boys aged 11–18 who attend school in
Jamaica, New York.

“[Dr. Whitley’s work] is definitely something that can make a real
difference in the future,” said Adelphi senior Marco Bernardo, who
worked on the SQPA project. “I learned about myself as a coach and how I
want to be because of her.”

Dr. Whitley and her students taught basketball, soccer and ultimate
Frisbee, and such life skills as leadership, teamwork and respect for
others.

“Sport is a playing field for life,” she said. “You win games, you
lose games. You learn how to work hard. Sometimes you’re part of a team
and sometimes you’re on your own.”

As part of her sport-based initiatives, Dr. Whitley has also worked
with underserved youth in South Africa, Massachusetts and Michigan. She
hopes to expand the experiential learning opportunities for her students
and inspire them to improve the lives of youth through sports.

“I continue to be amazed at the work that’s going on in communities
around the world,” Dr. Whitley said. “I feel fortunate that I can be a
small part of that in some way.”